


half light

by Blueberrycreme



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: All Human AU, Alternate Universe - College/University, Deaf, Library, M/M, Malec, Mute - Freeform, Relationship(s), Shadowhunters - Freeform, Sign Language, Smiles, Smut, meetings, slow burn as always
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2018-10-15 10:14:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10554636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blueberrycreme/pseuds/Blueberrycreme
Summary: Alec Lighwood studies law at the NYU, when one day, he sees a hot stranger in the univerity's library.But his attempt to talk to him fails miserably. Because maybe, Magnus can't answer.





	1. ONE

„’I chose to go to law school because I thought that someday, somehow I'd make a difference.’ Does somebody know who said that?”, Luke Garroway, Alec’s law teacher asked, while pacing around in front of his desk. The lecture hall was filled with at least hundred students, all looking at the professor. 

“Nobody?”, he asked, brows furrowing. Laughing slightly, he shook his head.  
“You are all in your third year at this university, and nobody ever heard that quote?”

Taking a deep breath, Alec shyly raised his hand. Professor Garroway’s eyes landed on him, a small smile on his lips. “Yes Mister-?”  
Alec cleared his throat.  
“Lightwood, Sir.” Alec hated to speak in front of people, let alone that many people. “Christopher Darden.”, he said in a low voice. Looking down on his papers, he could feel all eyes on him. The smile on his professor’s face grew. 

“That is right. And who was that?”

Alec looked up. “He was one of the lawyers that impeached OJ Simpson.” 

His professor leaned back against his desk, arms crossed. He was impressed. “And your opinion?”

Confused Alec furrowed his brows. “Sir?”

“Well, he stated that he wanted to become lawyer to change something. And you?”, his professor began pacing again, looking at his students. He had to speak pretty loud, so everyone could hear what he said next. “The last years, you learned rights. You learned the law. And that is good, don’t get me wrong. But being a lawyer is not the same as being the law. As a lawyer you will see cruel things, yes you will beauty too, but not most of the time. And sometimes, you will have to do the wrong thing, just because it’s the law. And now, my question was, Mister Lightwood, what do you think? Because to be honest, what and how you think will be very important someday, when you could save or destroy a life with your decisions.” 

Alec swallowed. This was the first time in professor Garroways class and he already knew that it was going to be tough. 

 

“I think-“, Alec began, then looked up. “I think that it is true that lawyers sometimes have to do something, even though it’s wrong, just because it’s the law. But maybe that’s what Darden meant. Maybe we have to change the game, not the players.”

The room went silent. Everybody either stared at Alec or at the professor. Then, slowly, Garroway started clapping, his lips curling into a smile. 

“And that’s-“, He pushed himself of the desk. “That’s what I want you to become. You will have the power to change things, maybe start with yourself and become better.”  
With that, the class was over. 

 

Heading out of the building, Alec was deep in thought. The class has been amazing, but it also made him think: what if he, at some point, destroyed a life, just because he made a wrong decision?

Without thinking about it, his feet had carried him all the way to the library, a huge red bricked house. Walking inside, he found himself a quiet corner in the law section. He always sat there; he saw nobody and nobody saw him. Pulling out his books, he began to read. He had an assignment till Friday and it was Monday, so he better got started. Currently they had to write an essay about Tom Bingham’s “the rule of law”, for their class with professor Hayte. 

 

Two coffees and hundreds of words later, it was 9 pm and Alec was too tired to even function properly. Packing his bag, he took the stairs and headed towards the exit of the library. That’s when he saw him. Him. Alec had seen him a few times before. Okay, maybe he saw him pretty often. Most of the time he was alone, learning or searching for some book in the bookshelves. And maybe Alec had a huge crush on him. His sister, Isabelle, had once seen him stare at the other one and since than she wouldn’t stop teasing Alec about it. 

 

“Go speak to him!”, she had encouraged him, nudging his side with her elbow. And Alec had thought about, he thought about it every time he saw the guy. 

Now he just stood there, across the hall, staring at the brown hair that was falling in his face while he read, a lilac stripe running through it. 

He would do it. He would do it. He would- no he would. 

He just couldn’t. What if he was rejecting him, or worse, what if he made fun of him? Lost in thoughts, he didn’t notice his brother, Jace, approaching him. 

“So, that’s him?”, he said, startling Alec. “Sorry.”, Jace added in a smirk. “What?”, Alec asked, confused. “Izzy told me that you have a library crush. That’s him?”, he asked again.

Alec stared at him. He had never really come out to his brother. Sensing what was going through his brothers head, Jace tilted his head in an almost puppy like way. “What? You thought I didn’t know? Oh come on. I knew since you stared at Raj’s ass when we were 14.”, Jace laughed, shaking his head slightly at the memory. Alec still just stared at him. “And, I mean-“, he scratched the back of his neck with his hand. 

“And are you, you know…”,he looked on the floor. Jace brows rose. “Okay with that? Sure! Put your dick wherever you want!”, he laughed again, but stopped when seeing Alecs troubled expression. “Alec, you are my brother. I will always love and accept you. Just like Izzy and Max.”, patting his arm, he turned towards Alec’s crush again. “And now. I am going to speak to him” Alec’s head shot up. “What?!”

Jace smirked, again. “Yes. I mean, either you do it, or I will do it.”

Alec could see how serious he was. Looking between his crush and Jace several times, he shook his head. 

“Okay. Then I will do it.”, Jace smirk grew and he started to walk towards the guy. Alec gripped his arm just in time. “Don’t you dare!”

Faking a thoughtful expression, Jace looked up the ceiling. “Erm… but I will.”  
The smirk was back. 

“Come on bro. You have been crushing on him since what? Weeks? So I had to swear to Izzy that the first one to see you two in a room, would give you this chance.”

“Chance?!”, Alec whisper shouted. “You literally force me to talk to him!”

Crossing his arms, Jace looked serious. “Yes, because otherwise you won’t do it.”

Opening his mouth, nothing came out. Alec looked back at the guy, that was currently standing up to get another book.  
“So?”, Jace asked. “Do I have to do the ‘hey, do you know Alec?’ or not?”

Thinking about his possibilities, Alec sucked in a breath. He was definitely pissed. “Fine. But you’re not watching.”  
Smirking Jace turned around, walking out of the library. 

Waiting till he was out of sight, Alec turned towards his crush. He was more nervous than before every test he had ever taken. He was good in learning, but this? This was something else.  
Putting his hands in his hoodies pockets, he walked towards the boy, currently at one of the bookshelves.  
Standing behind him, Alec took one last breath. Now or never. 

“Erm hi.”,he said. Waiting, nothing happened. Oh god please no. “Okay, I know this is weird, but I thought, that maybe, erm, you could tell me where the law section is?”, he said, facepalming himself mentally.  
The boy didn’t response, actually he just kept pulling out books, reading the cover and putting them back. Alec started to get angry. Didn’t he knew how hard it was for him to do this?!

“Great. Thank you.”, he said rushing of, past the stranger, with long angry steps.  
Running out of the library, he saw Jace waiting for him. “And?”, the other one smiled. 

 

“Went just as well as I imaged.”, Alec said while walking past him.


	2. TWO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooops

-Magnus view-

 

Magnus rolled his eyes. Why did they have so much homework again? If he remembered correctly, he was and adult and high school was over. But no, apparently university wasn’t much better. 

He was in his second year at the NYU, studying Art and he was more than happy with his choice. Magnus started painting and drawing when he was very little, just like every kid. But he had talent, and everyone could see it. Since first grade he wanted to study Art. This sounded crazy to most people, but Magnus couldn’t imagine anything else. And even when he wasn’t sure if he was good enough, his best friend Clary always stayed by his side. They found each other in Art class when they were eleven years old, and since then they were inseparable. 

 

Standing up from his desk at the library, we made his way towards the bookshelves on his left. Looking through the books, but nothing could help him. Pulling out one book after the other, reading the title and the cover, he slowly got frustrated. 

Sensing movement behind him, he turned around, only to see a tall guy walking away fast in an angry way, fists at his side. 

‘Oh no, did someone speak to me again?’ Magnus thought. Because that happened to him all the time; in the university, when someone was new or didn’t know him; in parks; even in clubs when they wanted to flirt. Most of the time people were embarrassed and walked of, but this guy seemed really frustrated. 

 

Magnus had to be good at interpreting body language, due the fact that he couldn’t hear nor speak. He had been this way since he was born and when normal children learned to speak, he learned sign language and lip reading. Of course the latter was hard and he could get things wrong easily, but he got better and better at it when he grew up and had to deal with the world.   
Putting the book he was holding back, he headed back to his desk, where he grabbed his things and walked out of the library. It was pitch black outside and he quickly walked to their dorms.

 

Opening the door, he saw that there was a party going on. Smiling at a few people, he squeezed himself through the people that were standing and dancing everywhere. He could even see some that were hanging off the stairs railing. Laughing he ran into his room, which he shared with Clary. Clary’s stepdad was a professor at the NYU and so they could stay in the same room, despite their opposite gender. 

‘Have you seen that?!’ he signed and let himself flop down onto the bed next to her. He saw her giggling, her red hair dancing.

‘Yes. But I have to learn. See?’ she signed and showed him her book. Clary had learned sign on your after they met. Her mother and her stepfather too, and when he found out, his father and Magnus almost cried. Nobody had ever done something like that for him. 

‘Yes, I can see biscuit. And I say no.’, he signed and stood up. Reaching for her book, while seeing that she was protesting, he grabbed it. Throwing it onto his bed and took her hand. Laughing he pulled her at of their room. 

Magnus was aware that he was still wearing his school outfit, and Clary wore her pyjama, but that didn’t matter. He wore dark, ripped skinny jeans and a purple v-line tshirt, so he was good and he never was somebody who didn’t know he looked good. 

Still pulling Clary with him, they half ran half walked towards the bar. If you could call it bar. It was more of a few boxes and alcohol on top. Shots. First of all, and always: shots. The alcohol was burning in his throat and looking at Clary he could see that she felt the same. Giving him a sign to wait a moment, she gathered her hair into a bun. Magnus could only laugh. With her fuzzy socks, her yellow pyjamas and now her bun, she looked like she didn’t belong to this party. But Clary didn’t care, she never cared what others might think of her and so she stood in the middle of a party, with a bun, a drink in her hand and yellow pyjamas on. Magnus couldn’t be happier that he got her as a friend. 

 

‘It happened again today.’, he signed and took a sip of his drink. 

‘What?’, Clary signed back and looked around the room.

‘Somebody talked to me. And I didn’t even notice.’ Magnus signed and with that he started to look around too. Maybe the guy was here too, and then he could speak to him. Apologise maybe. 

“Are you sure?”, she asked out loud, shaking her head and started to sign, but Magnus already nodded. 

‘Well, I am not hundred perfectly sure, but pretty.’ he signed after a few moments. 

The party got wilder when people started to play games. And Magnus, as the party animal he was, of course joined in. First of all there was a round of truth or dare adult edition. So basically dare. Drunk. Very drunk. 

Sitting in a circle, it was his turn. Gladly everybody already knew him, so they knew how to communicate.   
Jordan, who was in his realism class, wrote down “go and lick somebody’s sixpack”. They had developed this technic two years ago, when they all first met. Since not everybody could speak sign, actually most couldn’t, they started to write down easy things or Magnus lip read.   
Grinning Magnus stood up. 

Walking away from his friend he looked around. The positive thing about parties like that was that there were always half naked guys around. Spotting one hot example, Magnus smiled at the guy. When he reached the guy, he leaned down, slowly licking his way up his abs. Around him and the guy people lost their minds. Laughing, clapping some jumped and some chanted. When he stood up again the guy smirked down at him. Maybe Magnus would walk back to his friends.   
Without saying a word the guy grabbed Magnus hips, crashing their lips together in a hot passionate kiss. Opening his eyes slightly, he could see that people were still chanting, completely thrilled by the two. 

 

They had been kissing for a few minutes, when the guy pulled back. Taking Magnus hand they ran off towards his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is just because I needed to feed my cat


	3. THREE

Waking up, Magnus felt numb. Slowly he raised his head off the pillow it was lying on, looking around a foreign room. Squeezing his eyes shot, a pain shot through his head. A snore startled him and he looked beside him. His eyes went wide, after memories from last night came back.

 

Lips traveling south, sucking. 

 

Shaking his head, he looked around the room again. Who was that guy? Careful not to wake him back, Magnus slid out under the duvet, standing up slowly. He was completely naked. Pants. After searching for them a couple of minutes, Magnus found them; trapped over the end of the bed. Pulling up his briefs, he looked back at the guy. He was pretty. But nothing special. Magnus always had pretty. His hair was light brown and reached his chin and his body was perfectly sculpted, tanned. 

Suddenly the guy stirred, Magnus freezing in his movements. Please don’t wake up.

But then a snore escaped his lips and Magnus relaxed again. Grabbing his shirt that was lying on the floor, quickly, he walked out of the room.   
It was time for the walk of shame. 

 

As he went out of the dorm, he pulled his shirt on, sighting other student with a similar look: make up smeared, hair in a mess and clothing from last night on.   
Yawning, he opened the door to his own dorm house. Nobody was up, everybody still sleeping. He planned on sneaking into his room, grabbing fresh clothing, taking a shower and hide from Clary the whole day. But when he opened the door slowly, so he wouldn’t wake her up, he found her sitting on her bed, arms crossed. 

She now was wearing an old pair of sweatpants and an oversized shirt and if looks could kill, he would be dead.   
Raising her eyebrows, she clearly waited for him to sign something. 

‘Sorry.’, he signed and walked over to his closet, pulling a few items out. 

Turning around, he looked at her, a small smile on his lips, that was quickly becoming a full blown grin. 

‘What’s so funny?’, she signed, leaning back, lips still pursed. She didn’t like it when he walked away without informing her, especially on parties.   
‘I don’t even know his name.’, he signed and tried to control his laugh. The corners of her lips moved a little and he could see that she was trying to compose her pissed look. 

‘Oh, come on biscuit, I’m sorry okay?’, he signed while shaking with laughter. Finally she began laughing too, standing up to stand in front of him. 

‘You look like hell.’ She stated, looking him over. 

‘Yes and my butthole feels slightly abused.’, he signed, trying to keep a straight face, while watching Clary blushing and giggling.   
‘I am serious Clarissa. Isn’t my butt something that concerns you?’  
Shaking her head, her shoulders shook with laughter. 

‘Grab a shower, Magnus, then we will grab breakfast and head to the library.’  
Magnus started to protest but he was cut off by Clary taking her hands in his and giving him her the-project-has-to-be-finished-in-one-week-look.  
Rolling his eyes he walked into their bathroom. He took a shower, brushed his teeth, removed his make up, only to put some back on.   
Walking out of the bathroom, he saw Clary sprawled out on his bed, looking at her phone smiling. When she saw him, she stood up, showing him a picture of her mom and Luke, grinning at the camera. Luke was Clary’s dad, by blood or not. She couldn’t even remember the time before her mother finally gave him a chance.   
They walked to the Java Jones, a small café on the campus. 

 

They quickly grabbed a coffee and a muffin each and headed to the library. Walking in, they were greeted with an almost empty house. Everybody was partying the night before, due they hadn’t any classes today and were most likely still asleep. 

Well they weren’t alone entirely. 

A raven haired boy was currently standing near a bookshelf, starring at it, thinking. He was really tall and he would recognise that hideous hoodie everywhere. Grabbing Clary’s arm, who was walking in front of her he kept looking at the guy. The last time when he only saw his back storming off, but now, he really liked the view. 

He had messy hair, which looked adorable, was tall and his face was clearly carved by the angels themselves. 

‘That’s the guy who talked to me, I think.’ he signed, still starring at him. Looking at Clary, he could see a smirk forming on her lips. 

‘What?’, Magnus asked. 

‘Go talk to him!’, she empathized her words with shoving him slightly in the direction of the boy. 

‘No! Do you see that face?! You can’t just talk with a face like that. Besides, the talking is always not that easy.’ he joked, trying to distract her from her plans.

‘If you don’t walk over there and flirt with him right now, I will do it.’ She smiled innocently. 

Thinking about it for a moment, Magnus gave in. 

‘I hate you.’, he half-heartedly signed and began walking towards the guy.   
In the corner of his eyes he could see Clary walking off towards the Art section.   
The guy was still starring at the books like they personally offended him. Music pounded out of his headphones and his arms were crossed over his chest.   
Magnus stopped a few feet behind him, pulling out a collegeblock from his bag.

 

-Alec’s view-

Standing in front of the bookshelf, he just couldn’t find what he was looking for. Furrowing his eyebrows, he started to get annoyed. Suddenly there was a paper in front of him.   
Startled he turned his head to his left, eyes going wide when he recognised the person in front of him, hand still raises with the paper.   
Blushing, Alec swallowed. Confused he looked between the paper and the guy. After several moments, Alec decided to just go with it.  
Looking down to the paper he reached out with a shaking hand. 

“Hey. I’m sorry, but were you the one who talked to me yesterday?”, it read.   
Looking up, he met the other ones eyes. Slowly he nodded. With that, his crush took back the paper from him, writing down more.   
Confused Alec looked around, what was going on?  
Looking up, the stranger gave back the paper with a small smile. 

 

“This happens to me a lot. But I am deaf and mute, and therefore can’t hear you. I am really sorry if I offended you in any way.”

Alec read the sentences twice and after he was done, he wished he could disappear. Embarrassed would have been an understatement for what he felt. Scratching the back of his neck, he looked up. 

But his crush smiled. Alec thought he was going to be pissed.

“I am really sorry. This is so embarrassing.”, he started to write down. Taking a deep breath he continued writing. “My brother encouraged me to go and speak to you. I was nervous.” 

When he handed back the paper, his hand shook. At least that was easier than talking. 

He looked around the library, to nervous the look at the smaller one. When he eventually did, he was met by a grinning beauty, who handed him back the paper before walking off. 

 

“It’s alright darling. Cheers to your brother. Maybe he wasn’t wrong?”, it wrote and under it there was a phone number and a name.   
Magnus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for everybody that asked: the guy Magnus slept with was nobody important, just a one night stand. 
> 
> I am living for hoodie Alec, as you could guess.


	4. FOUR

It was 1 pm and Alec had been lying in his bed all day long, staring at his phone. 

 

With a loud slam, the door was being opened and a happy looking Jace walked in.   
“Remember that barista we saw the other day?”, he asked while looking through his clothes. Alec let out a hum, still staring at the display. Furrowing his brows at his brothers lack of words, Jace turned around.

“What are you doing?”, he asked while slowly walking towards the bed Alec was lying on.   
When Alec didn’t answer, Jace snatched the phone out of his hands. Sitting up, Alec protested. “Give it back!”, Alec said and extended his hand. 

But Jace had already taken back a step, Alec’s phone in his hand. “Who’s number is that and why are you staring at it?”, he asked confusedly, looking between his brother and the phone. 

Soon enough his brain seemed to catch up, a smirk forming on his lips. “Oh I see.”, he smirked and looked back at the number. “Your crush.” Humming he seemed to think. Then, without another word, he ran out of the room, already typing.

Alec jumped out of bed, running down the hall after his brother. “Jace! No! Don’t you dare!”, he screamed while evading a bunch of girls that looked after him. Sliding around a corner, Alec came to a stop. Jace was leaning against the wall, a proud smirk on his face and the phone hanging loosely in his hand. 

“See. Not that hard.”, he said, giving back the phone. Alec snatched it out of his hand, furious. “I swear Jace-“, he began but stopped after he looked at what Jace had wrote. 

“’Hi’?!”, he read and looked up. Somehow he expected something more flirty, something more Jace. 

Jace shrugged. “Simple. But works most of the time.”, he laughed at the last part, watching Alec rolling his eyes. That was, until the latter saw three little dots on his display. “He is typing.”, he whispered. “Oh god.”

“Relax, bro. Just don’t send him dick pics right away. That would be too soon.”, Jace said and walked past Alec. “Wait a day. Then send some.”, he added and continued to walk away, until Alec couldn’t hear his chuckle anymore. 

A ‘bing’ sound came from his phone and he looked back down. 

‘Hi’, it said. Then the three dots were back, signalling that the other one wrote something again. ‘So either you’re the cute guy from the library, or a creepy stalker.’  
Alec laughed. Thinking for a moment, he began typing with trembling fingers.   
‘And what would qualify me as a “creepy stalker”?’, he wrote. Why not be brave, at least this way he wouldn’t have to actually talk. 

 

Three dots. 

 

‘Well first of all you would complement my outfit of the day, because of course, you as a stalker would know what it was.’

Chuckling Alec opened the door to his room. Letting himself fall back on the bed, he smiled at the phone in his hand. 

‘If that’s the criteria, then I am sure I’m not qualified for the position. Maybe you should look at the other contestants.’ he wrote and hit send. Hopefully he wouldn’t mess this up. Sitting up abruptly, Alec began to panic. What if he wouldn’t mess this up?! He wasn’t really good at flirting and such things. 

The sound of his phone interrupted his thoughts. 

‘I would rather not. The others just don’t seem as hot as you.’

While reading, Alec blushed a deep red, unable to keep the smile off his face. Thinking about what to answer, he wished Jace was here to help him. No. He had to do this on his own. He could do it. 

‘That’s too bad. So I have to say, your outfit was really beautiful today.’, he wrote and immediately thought about his crush. Alec was sure his outfit was amazing, because it always was. Not only because the man in the clothes looked like an angel with his spiked hair, the mesmerizing eyes and his caramel skin. 

 

‘Oh darling, that it was. Mostly because I was naked the whole time.’

Alec stared down at the message. Images started to build themselves in his head and he blushed even more. Shaking his head, he tried to stop the growing bulge in his pants. 

Another message came in. 

‘Sorry if I’m a little bit too straight forward.’  
Hurrying, Alec typed. He didn’t want to mess this up. Not with the guy he had been crushing on for what felt like forever. 

‘Don’t worry.’ taking a deep breath, he thought about what Jace would write. With that, he typed more. ‘But maybe you want to put some clothes on when we grab some coffee.’ he send. Throwing his phone onto his pillow he stood up. Did he really just send that?! Pacing around the room, he was to worried and anxious to hear the ‘bing’ sound that his phone just made. 

Walking into the bathroom, he looked at the mirror. Deep breath. Sitting down on his bed, he grabbed his phone again. This time calmer, ready for the rejection. 

‘There’s a place called Walnut Chair down the road, meet you there in 10?’, the text said.   
With shaking hands Alec typed in his reply. 

 

‘Yes.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really thinking about starting another fic, but I'm not sure so maybe leave a comment? 
> 
> "Magnus and Alec had been best friends since they were six years old. Starting in elementary school and being best friends ever since. That was, until Alec got a music contract at 18, moved away and became famous."  
> Mmmh?


	5. FIVE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaand she's back. she's back with cuteness.

Walnut Chair was one of the small cafés Alec walked by almost every day. He never spent too much thought on the various small shops but now, walking down the street, he looked more closely.

They all had a similar style to them, old and with a certain charm. Stopping dead in his tracks, he eyed a wooden sign that said “Walnut Chair”. With a racing heart and shaking hands, Alec opened the door to the place that was filled with students. Everybody was laughing, eating and the sound of chatting friends filled the room that that also had a platform, the two connected by a spiral staircase.

Looking for Magnus, Alec began to walk into the room, noticing a few familiar faces here and there. Suddenly something hit his head. Spinning around, Alec looked on the floor, where now a crunched up paper was.  
Furrowing his eyebrows, Alec picked it up. 

‘Look up gorgeous.’ It said. 

Blushing Alec looked up. There, on the platform, sat Magnus with a grin plastered on his face. He leaned against the fence that was all around the platform so no one would fall off. 

Heading toward the spiral staircase, Alec took a deep breath, heart throbbing in his chest.  
On the platform there were less tables than in the wide room of the café, Magnus sat at the one were one could perfectly take in all what was going on without being noticed by the ones sitting under them. 

 

Making his way towards him, Magnus gave Alec a blending smile. 

That was the moment Alec’s brain seemed to catch up, because how where they supposed to communicate?!

 

Standing in front of the table, Alec seemed frozen in place, his face becoming paler than usual. 

Furrowing his brows, Magnus looked down. Alec then noticed something lying on the table and relive started to set in. Magnus wrote something down on a piece of paper. 

‘Are you okay?’, it said when he turned it around so Alec could read it.

Thinking about how dumb he must look, standing in front of the table, Alec quickly grabbed the chair across from his crush and set down.  
With shaking hands he looked down on the paper again, gratefully taking the pen Magnus was handing him. 

‘Yes. I was just thinking about something, but it doesn’t matter.’, he wrote and gave it back. 

“Hellooo, welcome to Walnut Chair! What can I get for you?”, a voice to his left sing sang and he looked up.  
The waitress, a girl with orange hair, smiled down at him. 

“Erm…tea, please.”, Alec said and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. 

“Black, green, fruit, with milk, without, sugar-“, the waitress began but Alec cut her off. 

“Thinking about it, I will take coffee.” Opening her mouth for more way to fast questions, Alec cut her off again.  
“Black. Plain.”, he added to prevent her from asking again. 

As she began to walk away, Alec turned back to his date. The other one was smirking at him and his eyebrows rose. 

 

‘I told Clary about our date and now she won’t stop being nosy’, Magnus scribbled down. 

‘The waitress, Clary, is my best friend and roommate.’ he added when seeing Alec’s confused look. 

A smile made its way on the raven haired boy’s face when he realised Magnus had been talking about him.

‘My brother, Jace, was being nosy too. He actually send the first message I send you today.’, Alec confessed, giving back the paper.  
While he waited for Magnus reply, he took in his crush. 

Magnus wore a low cut mint green shirt, no necklaces on but several rings on his hands and hair spiked up as usual.  
Looking up, Magnus caught Alec staring at him and began to smirk again. Then he gave Alec the paper.

‘I am glad he did.’ it said. Smiling, Alec looked up, blushing slightly he looked away. 

“There you go!”, the waitress, Clary, was back with tray full of coffees and teas. Putting down his black coffee, she gave him and Magnus a knowing smirk. 

“Black. Just like my soul.”, she said before turning around and serving the other costumers. 

Looking back at Magnus, Alec was even more confused. This was by far the weirdest date he ever had.  
In the meantime, Magnus had leaned forward, propping his elbows up on the table, smiling fondly at Alec. At that, Alec blushed even more. 

They continued their date with small talk, Clary interrupting them only once or twice after that. Alec found at that Magnus studied Art and that he liked cats and that he was really, really flirty. At the end, Alec probably was as red as Clary’s hair. 

 

‘Do you want to go for a walk?’ Magnus wrote down when both of them had finished their coffees.  
Nodding Alec stood up. 

Both of them smiled when they walk down the staircase and out of the café, waving goodbye to Clary.  
When Alec reached the door, he suddenly remembered everything Izzy ever told him, so he opened the door for Magnus. 

That earned him a blinding smile from the other one and Alec mentally applauded himself. 

They were walking side by side for a few blocks before Magnus turned towards him. They both came to a stop and Magnus took out his phone, tipping something.  
‘I really enjoyed today.’ He showed Alec on his display. 

Looking down, Alec’s face broke into a wide grin. When he looked up, the shorter guy was smiling too and they stood there for a few seconds just smiling at each other.  
Alec’s eyes darted towards Magnus mouth, back up at his eyes, back at his mouth. Without thinking about it, he took a step forward, lifting up Magnus chin and kissed him. It was a short kiss, mostly because Alec was afraid of rushing things, but he has had a crush on this guy forever and wanted to kiss him since months. He had looked at him through the library, when the other one stood up to get another book or when he just sat there, brows furrowed in concentration. And every time he almost had been caught, he had blushed and told himself that it was never going to happen, that someone like his library crush would never even speak to someone like him. 

 

But when he pulled away, taking a step back to see if he had been rushing things, he was met with a smiling Magnus, wrapping his arms around his neck, pulling him back into a kiss.


	6. SIX

After they had separated, Alec had taken Magnus hand, both smiling happily. 

They had walked for a little bit, before it began raining. Holding hands, they run towards the dorms. 

By the time they had made it to the dorms, they had been soaking wet. Laughing, they had made their way towards Alec’s room. Alec had borrowed Magnus warm clothes and there they were: cuddling under the blanket while watching a movie. 

First, Alec didn’t want to, he felt awkward when he could hear everything and Magnus couldn’t, but Magnus had smiled and told him to just turn on the subtitles. 

Magnus was half lying on top of Alec, on leg over Alec’s and Magnus head on his chest. Slowly Alec was stroking his damp black hair. Magnus hummed, burrowing his face deeper into the soft material of Alec’s sweater. 

 

After a while, Magnus lifted his head to look at the other guy. Smiling brushed a few strands of hair out of the taller ones forehead.   
Grabbing his phone from the night stand, he began typing. 

‘Was it your plan to get me into your bed?’, he showed Alec and smirked. 

Alec blushed as he read the message. Nevertheless he smiled. Taking the phone out of Magnus hand, he typed. 

‘No. Just a lucky coincidence.’, after the message, he put a winking smiley. This was weird, but Alec already planned on changing the way they communicated.   
Suddenly the door opened, startling Alec. In the door stood Jace, his face going from confused to smirking mischief rather quickly. 

“I see, I see, I will go back into the library then.”, he laughed and turned around. 

As the door closed, Alec let his head fall back onto the pillow, closing his eyes. He was sure that Jace wouldn’t stop annoying him until he got all the information he needed. And he would tell their sister, which was even worse, considering Izzy was the noisiest person alive. A hand stroking his cheek interrupted his thoughts.

Opening his eyes, he saw a smiling Magnus looking down at him. Slowly Alec raised his hand to pull him down slightly. They were still shy when their lips met, considering their position they were in. They had just met, have had their first date and now they were lying on top of each other. Even thought they were fully clothed, it still felt weirdly intimate.

Magnus pulled away first, reaching over to get his phone again.

‘I have to go… I got a test to study for.’, showing Alec the screen, Magnus could see his disappointment. Turning the phone to face him again, he typed something more. 

‘I don’t want to… Can I see you tomorrow? Breakfast?’, he added.

Smiling Alec nodded. Untangling himself from their cocoon, Magnus stood up. The room wasn’t cold, but after they had spent some time under the thick blanket, wrapped around one another, the air surrounding him felt a little bit too cold… and to Alecless. 

Alec stood up too, immediately putting his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. 

Smiling down on Magnus awkwardly he look even cuter then a few minutes before. 

Taking a step towards the taller one, Magnus kissed him softly. It was a short kiss, not more than fleeting touch. Biting his lips he pulled away and walked out of the room. 

 

Alec hadn’t noticed how nervous he had been the whole time, but when Magnus left the room, he groaned and sat down on the bed. On one hand, he couldn’t stop smiling. A few days ago he had watched his library crush from afar. Now they had kissed after a sweet coffee date, held hands and cuddled while watching a movie.

One the other hand, he could stop thinking about if he had down something wrong. He wasn’t good at this whole flirting and being cute thing, so it was easy for him to fuck those things up. Usually he always did. 

Pulling his phone out of his pocket he called Izzy. 

After a few rings she picked up. 

“Is that my handsome brother?”, she said and Alec heard that she was smiling. 

“Izzy, I have to learn sign language.”, Alec said, the words falling out of his mouth way too fast. 

“What?”, his sister laughed. Taking a breath in, he tried to collect himself. 

“Listen, I know you and Jace are gonna mock me, but my crush is mute and deaf and I really want to speak to him. Okay, actually he isn’t just my crush anymore… I mean we had a date and we kissed so technically-“

“You WHAT?”, his sister squeaked. 

Closing his eyes, Alec’s brows furrowed. Why did he call his sister again? 

“It’s not a big deal okay? I just wanted to ask you if you want to learn it with me?”, he asked and looked up at the ceiling. 

“Sure. Why not.”, Izzy’s voice was soft, as if she didn’t want to scare him away. 

“Great.”

A short silence followed. 

“When will you see him again?”, she asked carefully, not wanting to push her brother too much. 

“Tomorrow, for breakfast…”

He could almost see her smiling. His sister really was the nosiest person alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Question: Am I the only one who prefers Harry Shum Jr aka Magnus without beard?


	7. SEVEN

After Alec had hung up he had gone to the library to join jace. They had studied until midnight and he had fallen asleep as soon as he was back in his room.   
In the morning, his alarm woke him up. 

Groaning he turned left to grab his phone. After he had turned off said alarm, he saw a message. It was from his library crush. Smiling he sat up. 

'Breakfast?' It said. 

Alec's smile grew. 

'Sure.' He hit send. Looking around in his room, he began to wake up. He has never had a problem with standing up early. Pulling back fhe duvet he walked over to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready. After showering, brushing his teeth and getting dressed he walked back to his bed where his phone was. 

He had one new message. 

'Perfect. 9 am at starbucks?' 

'Sounds good.' He replied and look at himself in the mirror. He looked like he always did. His messy black hair, hazel eyes, black jeans and grey shirt. Alec didn't like to wear colour, didn't like to be the centre of attention. His siblings both were so bright, so outgoing. But he wasn't. Growing he fought something was wrong with him. 

He always had been shy and introverted, always being the kid thay read books or didn't make friends as easy as his siblings. Then puberty came and when all of his friends or classmates started to show interest in girls, he didn't. He started to notice how handsome Luke, from his biology class was, or how blue Jordans eyes were or how aroused he got when he saw the football team. He tried to hide it. But after having an emotional breakdown he come out. 

Sighing combed his fingers through his hair. 

Grabbing his keys and his wallet, he headed out.

Starbucks was just around the corner. It was windy and a little chilly outside, so when he entered the coffee shop, the warmth of the place was a welcoming feeling. 

Looking around, a beauty catched his eyes. Magnus was wearing a light blue flowy shirt, winged eyeliner and lots of rings and necklaces. As if he had sensed Alecs present he turned his head slightly, eyes locking with Alecs. 

Smiling he waved. Alec blushed, but made his way towards him neverless. 

It was still early in the morning, but the place was already crowded. Sitting down he pulled out his phone. 

'Hey.', he wrote, showing it Magnus. Before the other one could reply, he typed again. 

'Its really weird to talk like that.', he wrote. Showing his message to Magnus, he ducked his head shyly. 

Suddenly he could feel a finger under his chin, lifting his face up so he was looking at the other one. 

Magnus was smiling softly. 

'It is. But normal is boring.', he gave back the phone. 

Looking up from the screen, Alec bit his lips. Magnus eyes were really beautiful. Looking down he stared at his lips. His lips were beautiful too. Why was everything about this guy so stunning?! They looked so soft and inviting and- 

"Alec!"

Snapping out of his thoughts he noticed that they had both leaned in.   
Smiling shyly he searched the room for the intruder.   
Lydia was walking towards them in long steps. Her hair was pulled up into a braid and the other students literally made a way for her to walk through. Like she was noah and they were the sea.   
Lydia was... well known. 

"Alec? Whag are you doing? We have a project to finish and an important article to write!", she stopped in front of them, putting her hands on her hips. 

"Well.", he began, but was interrupted. 

"I know that I can be 'harsh' but this project is important.", she said in a softer voice now. 

Lydias parents knew his and they practically grew up together. Lydia and he were always best of class and not planning on changing that. But in the moment, a beautiful guy was sitting in front of him and he couldn't really think straight. Literally. 

"I am almost done with it. Dont worry." Alec said, looking at Magnus who was watching the baristas.

Looking back at Lydia, he wanted to give her a pointed look to let her know what was going on but she was too busy, looking at her phone deep in thought. 

"Also, your parents called mine and now they want to see us both. Great.", she rolled her eyes, before turning around to leave. 

'Who was that?', Magnus asked, Alec still looking after her. 

Sighing Alec typed back. 

'Her name is Lydia. She is nice, I swear.', he added when he saw Magnus expression. It almost made him laugh, but the thought of his parents left a bitter taste in his mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys: always be yourself. Be gay, lesbian, pan, demi, bi, intersex, transgender, queer, a freaking unicorn..Just be yourself. Fuck what they say, the important people in your life don't mind.


	8. EIGHT

Walking into the building of the company that Alec’s and Lydia’s parents owned, Alec already had a bad feeling right above his tummy. Well, he always had that when facing his parents, but the fact that they precisely asked him to join them in a meeting, left a bitter taste on his tongue. His parents were ambitious people who wouldn’t take “no” as an answer. Pushing the glass door opened, he walked into the big foyer made out of glass and marble. 

Lydia was already standing near the elevators, watching the passing employees with an unimpressed glare. She was the dream of every business man and woman. Passionate, smart, a little cold and just as ambitious as their parents. Adding that she was the most organized person Alec knew. He wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out that she was the leader of a underground organization, he could imagine her as an ice cold boss, sitting on a black throne, watching her soldiers walk by.   
“Hey!”, he smiled, while approaching her. Looking at him, she rolled her eyes. 

“You’re late.”, she said. If Alec wouldn’t know her, he would think that she was a mean person, but he did know her, so he just smiled and began to walk towards the elevator.   
Looking around, still unimpressed, Lydia sighed. 

“If I would take over this place, they wouldn’t be walking, they would be running.”

Alec snorted with laughter. 

“What?”, he laughed. 

“Yes, I mean they shouldn’t be that relaxed, there is work to do. Did you know that this place has a work time relation about fifty percent? Fifty Alec! Those people are only doing their jobs for half of the time!”, she rolled her eyes again. In reality, Lydia would be the first one to give her employees as much free days and creative room as she could, not that she would ever admit that of course. 

A ding signalled the arrival of the elevator and they stepped in with a handful of other business man, dressed in black and white suits, just the two of them.   
Crossing her arms, Lydia leaned back against the golden wall of the elevator. 

 

“Who was the guy at the coffee shop by the way, I forgot to ask.”, she said, eying the floor indicator above the door. Two, four, six…

Clearing his throat, Alec only shrugged. “A friend…”, he lied. 

Lydia smirked; Alec was such a bad liar. “Liar.”, she sing sang. 

Ding. Sixtieth floor, the last one and the one were the bosses had their offices. Were the Lightwould and Branwells had their offices. The doors opened and since the other passengers had already left, they were the only ones walking out and into the wide open room. They were several couches, a bookshelf out of glass and two long and high desks, two women standing behind each one. 

“We have an appointment.”, Lydia spoke up, her voice clear and professional. 

“Ms. Barnwell, of course!”, one of the woman smiled. Raising her brows at the clearly fake friendliness, Lydia walked over to the wall long windows, her heels sounding loud in the quiet room. 

“Mr. Lightwood, would you like something to drink while waiting?”, the other woman, a tall and skinny Asian asked. Alec bet that his father picked her out. She was gorgeous.   
“No, thanks.”, he shook his head and walked over to where Lydia stood. 

“But why Alec, they seem so genuinely concerned about our well-being.”, she quietly said, looking back at the women who were typing something at their computers.   
It was the second time Alec snorted. 

“Yes sure, I bet they want to but us in bed next.”, he whispered, crossing his arms while overlooking the amazing few. 

“Alec! Lydia!”, a voice disturbed the quietness. 

Turning around, they were faced with Mr. Branwell walking towards them with long confident steps, a big smile on his face. 

“Father.”, Lydia nodded. 

Giving them both an approving look, Mr. Branwell waved them to follow him. Alec knew exactly where they were heading; the main conference room, where the important stuff was talked about.

Holding the door open for them to enter, Mr. Branwell still smiled at them. The main conference room was a room covered fully in glass, even the floor was made out of it, giving you a grand look on small garden room at the floor under them. At the big conference desk in the middle, made out of glass too, sat Maryse and Robert Lightwood and Mrs Branwell.   
Smiling at their arrival, Mrs Branwell stood up to give them both a quick kiss on the cheek. Mrs Branwell looked just like her daughter; tall, blond and a stern look that was broken by a soft smile. 

“Lydia! Alec! Sit down!”, we have to talk. 

 

“No!”, Alec jumped up from his seat. They had been talking for about three hours, always about the same topic, when he finally broke. This was not going to happen. No way.   
“I won’t do it!”, he screamed, anger boiling deep inside him. Turning to leave, his father spoke up. 

“It’s not like you have a choice. We didn’t ask Alec, we ordered.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun duuuun! What do you think happened?


End file.
